While applauding the cross-strait rapprochement of recent years under President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) administration, a former US official yesterday reminded Taiwan that its best strategic interests lie in deeper economic relationships with other countries in Asia.
“You have done a remarkable job in China, but the degree of diversification is in your best strategic interests,” Kurt Campbell, who served as US assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs from 2009 to February this year, told at a luncheon in Taipei.
Whoever is in power or in the opposition, it is important for them to recognize that it is in the interests of Taiwan to have a deeper economic relationship with other countries in Asia, he said.
Photo: CNA
Campbell was answering a question from Joanne Chang (裘兆琳), a research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of European and American Studies, who asked what Taiwan needs to do to establish its readiness to meet the standards of the emerging US-led Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) framework.
The TPP offers enormous possibilities for a number of countries in the region, but “there has to be political ambition, and that has to extend beyond one political polity” for a country to join the TPP, he said.
“Every country I go to, whether is Indonesia, or Thailand, or the Philippines, they all say the same thing: I would like to join the TPP. Can you give us a special dispensation, so that we can get in like a junior membership or something? It’s not gonna be possible,” he said.
As an example, Campbell said the steps taken by Vietnam to liberalize its economy in just a year and a half were recognition of its desire to play on a global stage.
He recalled his experience in negotiating over trade barriers hampering the resumption of the US-Taiwan Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA).
“One of the hardest I have to deal with in the last couple of years is TIFA. It’s really hard, really, really hard,” Campbell said.
In response to a question about the role of China in US arms sales to Taiwan, Campbell said the US and Taiwan need to engage in “more unofficial dialogues and integration.”
“I can’t disagree with you that the nature of both the challenges we face were remarkable investments that China has made over periods of time and some limitations in Taiwan’s defense budget made these issues critical,” he said.
It was the first visit to Taiwan since Campbell, an architect of US President Barack Obama’s pivot or rebalancing toward the Asia policy, left the office. He is now chairman and chief executive of The Asia Group, LLC, and on the board of the Center for a New American Security.
At the luncheon at a forum on US-Taiwan-Japan Trilateral Security Dialogue, a track 1.5 channel among the three countries, Campbell delivered a speech on security dynamics in Northeast Asia and the implications for Taiwan.
Over the last couple of years, the US-China relationship has been relatively stable, the cross-strait relationship is probably at an all-time high and the unofficial relationship between Washington and Taipei is one of the strongest in decades, Campbell said.
“The three-way relationship has a degree of stability. That is unique over the course of 30 years. Taiwan deserves remarkable credits for managing these complex and myriad relationships going forward,” he added.
This story has been updated with addtional information since it was first published.
SAFETY RISK: The government is working to categorize countries based on their COVID-19 cases and prevention efforts, which would determine quarantine periods The government plans to rank countries based on their COVID-19 risks to determine how to treat tourists and other travelers from those nations once Taiwan reopens its borders, but it is still working out the categories, a top health official told lawmakers yesterday. “We would divide countries around the world into several categories. One category would comprise those countries with very few confirmed COVID-19 cases, such as New Zealand and Palau. Travelers from the countries in this category would only need to practice self-health management,” Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥) told a Legislative Yuan seminar hosted by
SECURITY CONCERNS: The Telecom Technology Center ran black-box tests for the Executive Yuan on devices and software from Chinese, US and South Korean firms Network devices from several Chinese manufacturers are insecure and allow personal information to be leaked, testing commissioned by the Executive Yuan has shown. A variety of devices and software, including apps, from Chinese, US and South Korean manufacturers that are used by government agencies at the central and local level were subjected to black-box testing — in which the functionality of an application is examined without knowing about its internal structure, an information-security official said yesterday on condition of anonymity. The Telecom Technology Center conducted the tests, which simulated cyberattacks, to determine their resilience to the attacks, the official said. The center
CASH BOOST: Foreign spouses with residency permits are also eligible for the coupons, which can be bought at post offices or linked to digital payment options Stimulus coupons for Taiwanese and foreign spouses with residency permits can be ordered starting on July 1 and can be used from July 15 to Dec. 31, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. Aimed at boosting domestic spending, the coupons worth NT$3,000 (US$100.04) are to cost NT$1,000. “For our consumers, this is a very good deal as they get three times as much value for their money,” Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) told a news conference in Taipei. While the coupons are to have a wide range of uses, including at department stores, restaurants, book stores, night markets, beauty and hair salons, hotels, and to
Beijing is to ease a ban on foreign airlines starting on Monday next week, changing course one day after the administration of US President Donald Trump demanded that China reopen to US airlines or face curbs on its own carriers flying passengers to the US. Foreign airlines excluded from an earlier pact would be able to operate one commercial passenger flight to China per week, the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration said. It did not name any countries or carriers, but the move opens up a chance for US airlines to return for the first time in four months. While the timing might
RSS